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Over the summer, everyone questioned what I said when I declared that what we had seen of Steven Spielberg’s “War Horse” was only a teaser and there would surely be more to come. Well, here I stand on my own high horse with a new trailer for the upcoming film. Unfortunately, the new trailer doesn’t really seem to do much more than rearrange and expand on a lot of the footage shown in the last preview.

Many pundits, at the moment, are calling this film the frontrunner for Best Picture. While it definitely has a boatload of nominations in line, I would not put it at the front of the gate. The Oscars seem to enjoy Spielberg most at his grittiest, and this appears to be perhaps one of the most sentimental ventures he has ever made. One thing’s for sure about the film, however. It looks absolutely gorgeous. If all plays out, one award we can definitely say that “War Horse” is leading the field in is Best Cinematography. Should it win, my favorite active DP, Janusz Kaminski, would have three Oscars on his mantel, putting him among a group you could count on one hand, including Robert Surtees and the great Conrad L. Hall.

Recently, Dreamworks bumped up the release date to Christmas day. This now puts it within four days of “The Adventures of Tin Tin”‘s official opening. Mr. Spielberg does love to face off against himself. Not that he has anything to lose, really. Both films are sure to gross well over the 100 million mark. Combined with the success of “Super 8,” “Transformers 3,” “Terra Nova,” and all coupled with his reception of the David O’Selznick award from the Producers Guild, this will be a pretty good year for one of Hollywood’s greatest sons. And “Lincoln” hasn’t even started shooting yet.

It’s no mystery that, through the course of my entire life, I have been an absolute Steven Spielberg fanatic. It seems that stating that truth is practically a mortal sin for any person who’s gone to school for filmmaking, yet, I have no shame in admitting it. No matter what genre, mood or style, Spielberg usually finds a way to nail it.

Despite all of this, both projects that the man is releasing in 2011 have never rung any bells for me. The whole concept of Spielberg directing a 3D animated feature, such as “The Adventures of Tin Tin: The Secret of the Unicorn,” is a little irritating. Being released within a few days of that film is his epic story of animal/human comradery and history, “War Horse,” which now has a teaser trailer.

Spielberg has always had a penchant for sentimentality, in different-sized doses per film. However, from what we see here, this theme has been taken to ridiculous heights. We can fully expect at least two hours of heart-warming sap, complete with a tear-jerker ending. On the bright side, the film looks absolutely gorgeous. Janusz Kaminski, the director’s longtime collaborator and my personal favorite cinematographer working today, has produced some fantastic images. I’m also quite excited to see the work of French actor Niels Arestrup, who absolutely devoured his role in Jacques Audiard’s “The Prophet,” last year.

Can’t say for sure yet whether this film will have the right qualities to return Spielberg to the Kodak theater in February. However, the original source material just won the 2011 Tony Award for Best Play, along with four other awards. Hopefully, the same magic that made the theater version so popular will shine through on the big screen.

It’s funny to pay attention to world-class director Steven Spielberg’s working schedule. The man has a habit of going on two to three year hiatuses without releasing any films. Then, suddenly he will compete against himself by releasing upwards of two films in a very short time frame. He performed this act in 2005 with “War of the Worlds” and “Munich,” in 2002 with “Catch Me If You Can” and “Minority Report,” in 1997 with “The Lost World: Jurassic Park” and “Amistad,” and, perhaps his most acclaimed and successful year, in 1993 with “Schindler’s List” and “Jurassic Park.”

Now, 2011 will become another such “year of Spielberg.” Will it be a good one? Who can tell at this point. Everyone has heard quite a bit about the auteur’s animated venture with Peter Jackson, “The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn.” I am personally not looking forward to this project at all, however, without a highly profile Pixar release this year (I consider the idea of a “Cars” sequel to be laughable), the Best Animated Feature category at the Oscars is really kind of wide open, this year. And how hilarious would it be to see Steven Spielberg accept and Academy Award for the animated medium?

Meanwhile, Spielberg’s other project, “War Horse” has been largely secretive in its production phase. The film is adapted from both a 1982 children’s novel and highly acclaimed stage play from the current decade. It tells the story of a teenage boy and his horse who share a very strong connection of friendship. However, that relationship is separated when the horse is conscripted into service in World War I. The film sounds to me like sentimental-city, but it is Spielberg paired up with a story of war, a subject he has definitely reached some level of expertise at directing.

Anyway, the first stills from the film have been released. One is above and the rest are below. The movie is currently entering the cutting room and is slated for a December release. I am highly anticipating it.